Passion with a purpose
By Peggy Nolan
As the Madison Trust celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, we’re featuring the people who made the Madison Trust what it is today. Samantha Crownover, Madison Trust president from 1997-2002, recalls jumping in with a willingness to roll up her sleeves and work. Twenty years later, she won the Madison Trust’s Preservation Award for Brisbane House, a historically significant property she restored and turned into an Airbnb.
What prompted your interest in historic preservation?
My parents. When we went on vacation, it was mostly to New England historical houses. On our way to Wadsworth House (at Harvard University), or Longfellow’s or Louisa May Alcott’s house, we’d stop at the Golden Lamb Restaurant & Hotel in Ohio. We went anywhere there was a historic inn or tavern or historic house—bonus points for a historical interpreter in costume! Shakertown in Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, was a big one. In Wisconsin, I remember Wade House and Pendarvis. I guess it just totally got into my blood.
Fast forward to being an adult. How did you get involved with the Madison Trust?
I went to college and grad school here, and I was very interested in the history of art and architecture. I headed toward being a curator, but I didn’t know what I was going to do with that love of historic preservation and architecture. So, I just looked around me and investigated historic buildings in town. I’m an extrovert, so I wanted to live downtown where it was happening. Naturally, the historic apartment buildings are downtown and that’s where I’d always chosen to live. I went searching for organizations to join around the downtown area and happened upon Capitol Neighborhoods Inc. and the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation. I wanted to be involved, and I wanted to help shape them. Because I’m not afraid of jumping into something and rolling up my sleeves, I soon became president of the Trust and the First Settlement Neighborhood (within Capitol Neighborhoods).
What are some accomplishments from your tenure as president, along with the challenges you faced?
One of my accomplishments with the Trust was continuing to expand the tours by making brochures for each one. A fellow board member, Barb Essock, illustrated them, and my husband began making illustrations, too. I sold ad space in the brochures to generate revenue. I was doing public relations at this point, laying the groundwork to make the organization a little more high profile and professional. We established formal meeting space, first at the American Institute of Architects and later at the Bellevue Apartments. We also started fundraising a little more intentionally. Nancy Warnecke with Moonlit Ink developed letterhead, a logo and a new brochure promoting the Trust. For the preservation awards and celebration, I asked Zane Williams to take photos of the winning homes, and we displayed them and then presented them to the winners. This was all just three years after I graduated with my masters.
I’m proud of being vocal about the proposed Overture Center project—some parts more than others. We wanted to preserve portions of the Civic Center block, most notably the Oscar Mayer Theater and Yost building. I wrote a letter to Jerry Frautschi when his donation was announced. I basically said it was shortsighted of him to put up money to demolish this entire block for a new performing arts center. I was inexperienced, and I was passionate. I gradually learned how to be a little more diplomatic. Ultimately, the architect preserved the Theater and part of the Yost building and incorporated that into the design. When that news was announced, the Wisconsin State Journal included a photo of me and my fellow advocates in front of the Yost building. And so, I wrote another letter to Mr. Frautschi, this time apologizing for my brashness, thanking him for his incredible donation to support the arts and the community in Madison and admitting that it all turned out terrific. I guess I felt I had to make waves. I was very outspoken at common council meetings, too. I opposed building the Monona Terrace Hotel next to the Bellevue Apartments.
In terms of challenges, I led the board at a young age, and I struggled with how to lead. I didn’t know much about board leadership or nonprofit structure. I didn’t have many mentors at that point. Did I need to make the decisions and implement my vision? Or did I need to lean on the wisdom of the collective group? I learned that it’s a little bit of both. I began with a vision of the Trust’s success in my mind, and I blazed forward. I attracted several people who were very supportive along the way, and then we could all get excited about raising the profile of the Trust together, and it grew from there.
How has the field of historic preservation changed since your time as president of the Madison Trust?
One really important and exciting change has been the more widely accepted concept of adaptive reuse. A historic building doesn’t have to be mothballed. It’s exciting to see residents and tourists attracted to downtowns with rich architectural fabric. It’s important for the next generation of residents and business owners to feel free to make a place their own. I’m thinking about a place I recently stayed, the Trilogy Hotel, in a historic building in Montgomery, Alabama. With historic preservation guard rails, visionaries planted their business within this beautiful meaningful brick shell, and it’s dynamic and alive! I embody that vision in the transformation of the Brisbane House in Arena (look it up!). Here is a place extremely important to our history and especially Black history, and I turned it into a vibrant and comfortable space to experience today. Blending. I love that. And thanks, Trust, for commending my work with the 2022 Preservation Award.
As the Madison Trust celebrates its 50th anniversary, what are your thoughts on the role the Madison Trust plays in Madison and the value it provides?
I congratulate the Trust for its growth. The Trust still plays a major role educating, building, and celebrating community. I just love the advocacy the Trust does. As with any organization, so much of it happens behind the scenes. The people involved in the Trust are bridge builders. They want the best possible outcome for as many people as possible. Shout out to some specific people: Trust president before me, Rick Bernstein, was earnest, methodical and knowledgeable; Joe Lusson, president after me, was a community activist, with his heart in the right place. I’m glad the walking tours Erica Fox Gehrig launched are so popular, and the awards are a wonderful community celebration! I feel like we’re the little guys still, but it’s wonderful work, and it’s very meaningful. We’re trying to make an impact, we’re trying to leave important places for posterity, and we’re trying to make them vibrant and relevant today.
See more at samcrownover.com. Click to view full screen.
You have your hands in a lot of things. Is there one you love most?
I love the arts, and that includes historic preservation. My degrees are in art history, so I’ve always loved the visual arts. I also love performing arts, and because I manage a chamber music festival, classical music. And I love the places in which we exhibit or perform, whether it’s within a historic building or significant contemporary architecture. My career has spanned a good portion of historic preservation, visual arts and performing arts. The more synergy between those disciplines, the better.
What else would you like to share?
While I was involved in the Trust, I also led the effort to designate a portion of the First Settlement District a Historic District. I am very proud of that and I am grateful to my neighbors, especially Bert Stitt, Kevin Earley, Zane and Mary Williams, and to the City’s former Preservation Officer, Kitty Rankin.
Speaking of Brisbane House and of downtown Madison, there are places we’re discovering that hold special meaning for reasons that have been overlooked. Many BIPOC- and gay-owned businesses or places of significance in Madison were not highlighted in previous surveys. Systematically undervalued populations suffer from being ignored. I applaud the Madison Landmarks Commission’s efforts to ask, “Which places and structures and stories have we overlooked? Tell us about your cultural places of significance. Let’s look at the significance of our places a little more fully.”
The Brisbane House is listed on the State and national registers of historic places for its architectural significance, and as a side note, the nominations described William Henry Brisbane, who was an abolitionist. As we are now accepting the existence of systemic racism in our country, Dr. Brisbane’s active rejection of slavery would be a more significant portion of a nomination application today. I like the direction in which historic preservation is moving to uncover parts of history we’ve tried to hide.
There’s always a struggle to highlight, broadcast and maintain some of these places. Development pressures are real and they always have been, and the political climate is challenging. People have different values. There are competing interests in a community. And so, it’s got to be a balance. We have to come to terms with these things—but together.
Periodically in this space, we’ll feature local historic preservation heroes. We all have a role to play in keeping Madison’s history alive. What’s yours? Submit suggestions for others we should feature here.